The £80 pledge tier and higher now also includes free expansions for Elite: Dangerous! For more information on likely expansions check the Development Plan video further down the page.

We have announced a stretch goal for a Mac version of the game. If we reach the stretch goal of £1.4 million through the Kickstarter we will release a Mac version approximately 3 months after the Windows PC release.

New stretch goal announced, if we reach £1.5 million then we'll add another 10 playable ships to the game.

Our galaxy. Its an awe inspiring, beautiful, vast place; with billions of star systems, planets, moons and asteroid fields just waiting to be explored, and exploited. The triumverate superpowers of the Empire, Federation and Independents dominate their core system volumes and constantly skirmish to outmaneouver one another on their frontiers. Outside their influence, in the vast majority of the galaxy, anarchy reigns supreme and spectacular discoveries await the bold.

Its dog-eat-dog out there – you need to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Whether you want to trade for profit between systems, take part in multiplayer co-op mission alliances, free-for-all group battles and team raids to bring down planetary economies, even tip the balance of power in the galaxy (for your own advantage, of course..), or simply explore the wonders of the galaxy (and who knows what you’ll find out there..) is up to you.

Your second-to-second actions could have you taking the roles of trader, pirate, bounty hunter, leader, team player, opportunistic assassin, grand schemer, and more. You are at the centre of the action any time, any place and any way you choose – each action has a consequence, and influences the galaxy around you.

Starting with a few credits and a basic starship, carve your own path through the richest, largest gaming sandbox ever created, set against a backdrop of raw anarchy, galactic powerplays and intrigue. Do whatever it takes to upgrade your ship’s hull, engines, weapons, defences, cargo hold; constantly improve your capabilities and influence on your journey towards the most coveted rank in the history of gaming - ‘Elite’.

Fight, trade, hunt your way across a giant galaxy of billions of star systems, starting with a basic starship and a few credits. You can make money from trading goods between the many star systems, by destroying pirate ships (and collecting bounty), or even by attacking traders and collecting their cargo (which in turn will get a bounty on your head!). There will be missions too, and exploration. Most people will do some combination of these things. Upgrade your ship and specialise in one activity - have a trader with a huge cargo bay, or use the space for weapons and maneuverability.

Real Freedom - Go where you like, be what you like - pirate, bounty hunter, trader, assassin, or some mix of all of these.

Progress - Get your pilot rating all the way from "Harmless" to "Elite"

Explore - Head out to the far reaches of space and discover amazing sights

And the best part - you can do all this online with your friends, or other "Elite" pilots like yourself, or even alone. The choice is yours...

In "Elite: Dangerous" you fly a spaceship using a first person from-the-cockpit view, building on the elements from the previous games, with sumptious graphics enabled by the performance of modern PCs - all made possible using procedural techniques (see video on 'Procedural Generation' below).

Pledge upgrades are unlimited and available to all tiers of £30 or more. Simply up your pledge by the total of the items you would like (including additional postage if you are outside the UK), but keep the same tier on the “Manage my Pledge Screen”.

Please note: each of these items is separate – it does not include all the previous items.

Once the Kickstarter campaign for Elite: Dangerous has completed successfully we will ask you how you want the additional funds allocating (ie the amount over and above your selected tier), and then provide the additional items as described on the dates described.

+£5 Have a digital copy of the official sequel to “The Dark Wheel” (Delivery March 2014)+£5 Have a digital copy of the Elite: Dangerous soundtrack (Delivery March 2014)+£5 Pick one of the ship decals, at least 10 will be available, they can be used as the decal to access the Founders' World (Delivery March 2014)+£15* Have a physical paperback copy of the official sequel to “The Dark Wheel” (Delivery March 2014)+£20* Have a physical CD of the “Elite: Dangerous” music (Delivery March 2014)+£20* Have an "Elite: Dangerous mug" (Delivery February 2013)+£20* Have a quality A3 concept art print (Delivery February 2013)+£25 Have an additional digital copy of the game+£35* Have a signed (by David Braben) quality A3 concept art print (Delivery February 2013)+£50* Have an “Elite: Dangerous” mug and “Elite: Dangerous” T shirt with “I backed Elite: Dangerous” on the back shipped to you (Delivery February 2013)

+£50* Have a signed (by David Braben) physical hardback copy of the official sequel to the Dark Wheel (Delivery March 2014)+£80 Have an additional Digital Download Pack. This is effectively the same as an additional £80 pledge tier and includes any future expansions (Delivery March 2014)+£90 Have an additional Premium Boxed Edition. This is effectively the same as an additional £90 pledge tier and includes any future expansions (Delivery March 2014)+£500* Have a physical 3D model of a Cobra Mk III to scale (approx. 15cm) shipped to you (Delivery March 2014)+£700* Have a physical 3D model of an Anaconda to scale (approx. 35 cm) shipped to you (Delivery March 2014)+£400* Have a physical 3D model of a Viper Mk II to scale (approx. 10 cm) shipped to you (Delivery March 2014)+£700* Have a physical 3D model of a partial cut-away (revealing the interior) of a Cobra Mk III to scale (approx. 15cm) shipped to you (Delivery March 2014)+£950* Have a physical 3D model of a partial cut-away (revealing the interior) of an Anaconda to scale (approx. 35cm) shipped to you (Delivery March 2014)+£550* Have a physical 3D model of a partial cut-away (revealing the interior) of a Viper Mk II to scale (approx. 10cm) shipped to you (Delivery March 2014)

*UK shipping is included, please add an extra £15 for international shipping.

Gift Pledges

Gift pledges can also be made for any pledges that are not limited in availability (for example the £20 pledge cannot be pledged as an gift). To add a gift pledge follow the same procedure as for the pledge upgrades.

We have announced a stretch goal for a Mac version of the game. If we reach the stretch goal of £1.4 million through the Kickstarter we will release a Mac version approximately 3 months after the Windows PC release.

New stretch goal announced, if we reach £1.5 million then we'll add another 10 playable ships to the game.

The initial release of Elite: Dangerous doesn't mark the end of development. We intend to continue expanding the game both with new content and new features. A good example of this is planetary landings. We have an ambitious goal for landings to include new gameplay and a rich variety of worlds to explore. To achieve our goal we want the planets to come to life. We also want to add leaving the ships so you can explore space stations or board enemy vessels or even just to look around your own.

The main reason for treating these as expansions is so we can approach these with the proper development resources that we require to do them well. We don't plan or desire to just tick a box, we want to make these additions something significant.

Another avenue we intend to explore is other platforms, but for now the focus is very much on the Windows PC release. Only once the initial game is done will we start to look at other platforms.

Really big expansions are likely to be paid for while we also intend for some smaller free updates. If you have pledged to to £80 tier or above you will receive all expansions for free.

“Elite” has gone down in history as one of the most successful games of the 1980s. It was the first ‘open world’ game in which the player can freely roam a vast space. It was the first true 3D game too, and set many other benchmarks. Ian Bell and I set out to make a game for ourselves rather than for some imagined market. We were sick of games with three lives then a new life every 10,000 score; we wanted something new.

The original “Elite” fitted into around 22K of memory, out of a total of 32K on the BBC Micro Model B computer on which it was launched (8K was needed for the screen, 2K for the system). This is less than a single typical email today. In it were eight galaxies each with 256 star systems. Each planet in those systems had its own legal system, economy and so on. Clearly some magic had to happen to fit it into 22K, and that magic was procedural generation.

Combat in the original "Elite" on the BBC Micro

Competent

“Frontier” followed in 1993 on 16 bit computers, and pushed these procedural techniques further. In it I made a model of the whole of the Milky Way galaxy with all 100,000,000,000 or so star systems, and many more planets and moons, each of which you could visit. It is something I am really proud of, as it was as scientifically accurate as I could make it, and provided a great backdrop for a game. I loved the richness of the galaxy, but with the benefit of hindsight I think the way the ships flew detracted from the joyous immediacy of those in “Elite”.

Data on the Fomalhaut system in "Frontier" on the Amiga

Dangerous...

Imagine what is now possible, squeezing the last drop of performance from modern computers in the way “Elite” and “Frontier” did in their days? It is not just a question of raw performance (though of course these elements will make it look gorgeous), but we can push the way the networking works too – something very few people had access to in the days of Frontier.

Frontier Developments, the company I founded in January 1994 (and whose first product was a version of the “Frontier” game for the CD32 console), is now a very well established game development company with 235 people in the UK and Canada, with its own technology and tools and a great team of game developers. We have a long track record of delivering high quality games on time and to budget, both published by ourselves and through big publishers like Microsoft, LucasArts, Atari, and Sony.

Elite: Dangerous is the game I have wanted Frontier to make for a very long time. The next game in the Elite series - an amazing space epic with stunning visuals, incredible gameplay and breath-taking scope, but this time you can play with your friends too. I want a game that feels more like the original “Elite” to fly, and with more rapid travel (to allow for the multi-player nature of the game) – so you travel quickly using local ‘hyperspace’ travel rather than by fast-forwarding time – but with the rich galaxy of Frontier – and more, so much more.

I’ll be frank - we have had a couple of false starts on this over the years, where progress wasn’t as good as I wanted. Also, understandably, other projects have been prioritised – projects with announced dates or other commitments. Up to now “Elite” has been worked upon by a small team as a ‘skunk-works’ activity in the background as availability permits. Nevertheless, we have been preparing; laying the technology and design foundations for when the time is right. And that time is now.

We’re using Kickstarter both as a means of test-marketing the concept to verify there is still interest in such a game that extends beyond the individuals who regularly contact me about the game, and raising the funds to do so. There is also the fact that as long as we hit the threshold, it commits us to making the game. From where we are now, $2M/£1.25M will get us the minimum game, but I am hoping we can get more than that as it will allow us to be more ambitious with content and platforms; something the design decision forum members (the £300 reward tier and above) will be part of a discussion about.

We will rely heavily on artist-directed procedural generation, using techniques that are a logical expansion of what was done in the previous “Elite” and “Frontier” games. This will greatly reduce the required budget – bringing it to within reach of Kickstarter. It also means it becomes a viable project to avoid the conventional publishing route – something that I don’t believe can deliver a game like this successfully.

Procedural generation of content is a technique where content is generated from rules. It abstracts repetitive or arbitrary elements of content creation in a very efficient way. Imagine a medieval landscape. Laying out towns, roads, castles, farm land, forests and so on can be done by a system of rules – putting castles widely spaced out on vantage points, towns near rivers but under the protection of such a castle, roads between them, then with farm land to support them all. An artist can still design the castle, the houses in the towns, but this approach greatly magnifies the content that can be created. “Frontier” did this for the star systems, and planets, and with Elite: Dangerous, we will go further.

For those who are interested in further information on procedural generation, here is a video talking some more about it. It is not everyone's 'cup of tea' as it is quite detailed, but there is some more game footage in the background...

In the game, you will of course begin with a spacecraft and a small sum of Credits. You will be able to trade, pirate, bounty-hunt, explore, and salvage your way to wealth and fame, building on those key elements of the previous games, and with sumptuous graphics only now possible with the performance of today’s machines. Only this time some of the ships out there will be other players like yourself – other members of a secret ‘Elite’ group of space-farers…

· Multiplayer: you will be able to control who else you might encounter in your game – perhaps limit it to just your friends? Cooperate on adventures or chase your friends down to get that booty. The game will work in a seamless, lobby-less way, with the ability to rendezvous with friends as you choose. This technology is already working, using a combination of peer-to-peer (to reduce lag) and server connections.

· Play it your way: Your reputation is affected by your personal choices. Play the game your way: dangerous pirate, famous explorer or notorious assassin - the choice is yours to make. Take on missions and affect the world around you, alone or with your friends.

· Trade: Buy low, sell high and discover the most profitable trade-routes. Keep an eye on the markets, supply and demand may create opportunities for quick profit. Unscrupulous players may even try distorting those markets.

· Fight: take on the pirates, or become one yourself. Engage in combat missions within a rich and dynamic simulation to earn a reputation, or perhaps you want to become a famous bounty-hunter – feared by those that you chase, but staying the right side of the law.

· Travel: Travel across star systems and between them. Risk leaving the relative safety of the Corporate-run space station to explore distant planets or stars. Space is big and you never know what you might find; perhaps a salvageable freighter wreck or some valuable asteroids? There are secrets and startling beauty waiting to be discovered by the intrepid explorer.

· Ships: save your credits and upgrade your ship. Get new weapons, engines and equipment and customize your ship the way you want it. Check out the body-kits and paint jobs on offer, give your ship that personal touch.

A render of just the mesh of a heavily damaged Anaconda

The game is planned to be released on the PC in March 2014. Make no mistake – this is a massive game, but by using procedural techniques that we have been cultivating over the years, a new approach to multiplayer, and bringing the raw power of today’s machines to bear, it is astonishing what is possible. This is your chance to help make it happen. Become one of “The Elite” once more.

David Braben

Concept Art

Please note: the Kickstarter system reduces the resolution of these images. They can be found at higher resolution here:

*All names must not be offensive, trademarks, or in any way problematic for us to include in the game, and must follow our naming guidelines.

Risks and challenges

Stating the obvious, all projects, whether building a bridge, making a film, studying for an exam or whatever, carry risk. Projects can run out of time or money, people can leave, assumptions that were made at the start may prove to be mistaken, or the results may simply not be as good as expected. Games development is no different.

Looking at all the high quality games we at Frontier have produced, from RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 to Kinectimals to LostWinds to Disneyland Adventures, I think the risk of non-delivery is small. We already have a large team who are very experienced at delivering complicated projects, and the key high-risk components (like networking) are already in place. If necessary then we will delay the release beyond March 2014, but I do not believe we will need to do so.

Fundamentally this is the game I want to make and have wanted to make for a long time. I want to make this game for myself – it is the sort of game I want to play. There are many more like me at Frontier that want this for themselves too, and, I hope, out there in Kickstarter-land. Right at the start, Ian and I took that risk when making the first “Elite” amidst cries that it needed three lives and a score – but we took the risk that others wanted what we wanted – and the result was a great success. If Elite: Dangerous is something you also want, then let’s all take that risk together and help make the fantastic freedom of the “Elite” series return to our screens, in current state-of-the-art glory!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £25 or more
About $40

Download a single copy of the game and also gain 500 credits when starting a new game. Plus all of the rewards listed above, except the limited £20 reward. Higher rewards gain the 500 credit bonus, but this only applies if the default starting option is selected.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £32 or more
About $51

Imperial Bounty Hunter: Have the option to start in an Imperial Colony with an Imperial Eagle Mk II Fighter with upgraded weapons and shields and 1,000 CR (randomised start system choice for multiplayer reasons)** plus all rewards above.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £37 or more
About $59

Federal Trader: Have the option to start in a Federal border system with a basic Cobra Mk III loaded with cargo worth 1,000 CR and 1,000 CR in cash.(randomised system choice for multiplayer reasons)** plus all rewards above.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £60 or more
About $96

Physical DRM-free boxed edition of "Elite: Dangerous" plus all rewards above (please note: the disc in the pack is simply an alternative way to install the game - it will have the same online account code whether installed off disc or downloaded digitally).

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £85 or more
About $136

Kickstarter Special: Have the option to start in the founder's world with any starter ship and 4,000 CR. Note: any Kickstarter decal-carrier will be able to travel to this secret system in gameplay** plus all rewards above.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £90 or more
About $144

Physical DRM-free collector's premium boxed edition of "Elite: Dangerous". This includes all the rewards above, except a premium boxed edition is in place of the standard boxed addition, which includes a T shirt with "I backed Elite: Dangerous" on the back, and a paperback copy of the official sequel to "The Dark Wheel".

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £4,500 or more
About $7,212

The writer’s pack: The right to write one piece of written fiction set in the Elite: Dangerous world, and (subject to reasonable approval of the content) release it commercially, without paying Frontier further royalties, independently of the game. This category includes all the rewards above. Frontier will cooperate to allow the system name, commander name, planet name, planet description, space station names to be positioned and used in a way to support the fiction within the game. Frontier will also help publicise your title at the time of release of “Elite: Dangerous”, as long as it is finished at that point, alongside the official sequel to “The Dark Wheel”.